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Imports on the rise for France
The daily balance of physical exchanges reached a 30-year low in France last month as electricity demand rose and EDF grappled with continuing industrial action.
Grid operator RTE has reported that on December 16th, some 140 GWh was imported to meet demand. The country relied on power imports over several time intervals on eight other days in December, says RTE.
Power demand in France has been rising throughout December and January in the face of freezing weather but December saw nuclear output fall to its lowest level in ten years. In early January EDF reported that nine of its 49 nuclear reactors were offline, and RTE put parts of the country on high alert for possible power cuts as demand reached record highs.
EDF has been plagued by industrial action at its nuclear power plants for several months. Chief executive Henri Proglio says that he is committed to getting more plants online and has set a target of increasing the availability of its nuclear reactors to 85 per cent within three years, up from 78 per cent in 2009.
EDF's nuclear output for 2009 is projected to be around 390 TWh, down from 418 TWh in 2008.

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